Rowan Bruce
Once described as “McFly meets Meshuggah”, Bristol’s own Blank Atlas have become local legends over the last decade. Composed of twin brothers Tom and Dan Thould on drums and guitar and their childhood best friend Chris Simpson on bass, the Blank Atlas boys are no strangers to playing with The Last Vinci after co-headlining with them across the UK and Ireland last November.
Opening on ‘Flawless’ and blasting through hits like ‘Connections’ and ‘Beautiful Morning’ from their debut album Dawn Chorus as well as newer track ‘Leave My Life Behind’, Blank Atlas take a break from recording their upcoming second album to deliver a brilliant set full of lush three part vocal harmonies and chaotic alternative rock energy. Definitely a band on the upswing, Blank Atlas should be a name to watch for fans of Press To Meco style layered vocals and Reuben-esque guitar work.
Bringing the low tuned riffs of Deftones together with the dynamic and powerful clean vocals of bands like Dance Gavin Dance, midlands trio Terminals are sure to have a bright future ahead of them. In their relatively short time together the trio have already played 2000 Trees, released a pair of EPs and confirmed a slot at this year’s Arctangent festival before even playing a full tour.
By far the heaviest band on the bill, Terminals shake the room with distorted baritone riffs, deafening the room with lush, groove-laden shoegaze fuzz. While for many bands this low end assault would get muddy and confusing, frontman James Whitehouse’s angelic clean vocals fill out the high end with falsetto crooning. With an extremely on-trend alternative sound, Terminals are a band to see now before they’re selling out bigger venues alongside Superheaven or Loathe.
Growing up in Turin, Italy as the youngest of eight siblings Alex Vinci has lived life as The Last Vinci since birth, with the addition of bassist Dylan Scully and drummer Francesco Odone Cork’s biggest stoner/alt-rock trio was born. Fitting in as well with riff-centric co-headliners Terminals as they do with math rock legends like Bicurious, The Last Vinci deliver hefty, fuzzed-out riffs with just enough experimentation to keep their sound interesting.
While Alex handles effects fueled guitar acrobatics and forceful vocals, bassist Dylan takes the opportunity to perform some more literal acrobatics, flinging himself around the stage while holding down the low end. On newer tracks from the trio’s latest album like the title track ‘15 Minutes at a Time’ Alex really gets to flex his muscles as a frontman, shredding through intricate guitar parts while also delivering forceful cleans and screams.
The album single ‘Better To Never Know’ stands out as a highlight of The Last Vinci’s live show with an enormous octave driven riff and sing-along chorus while ‘The Hollow Shell’ slows the pace down for a doomy and heartfelt yet still energetic headbanging hit. Closing out their 45 minutes of mosh-ready riffs and genuine emotion on their 2019 single ‘Nemesis’, The Last Vinci prove themselves to be one of the modern alternative scene’s most precious gems.
